Grand Theft Harvest
by Lucy Kay
Summary: A ragtag band of thieves find themselves in the all too enticing conundrum of being mistaken for the heroes of legend – and they're sure to abuse the hell out of it. Skye and Co. to the rescue? El Dorado inspired. Debauchery just… everywhere. Rated M for manly language. Welcome, sailors.
1. Day the First

**Disclaimer:** Why do I do these? Why am I still doing these? Consistency? My God, I think it's consistency. Much like my career here on fanfiction – I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT.

Hey, hi, how ya doin'. I'm not even going to warn you this time, you clicked – it's your own damn fault; you walked right in on this, I'm just reading you the menu, _sir_. Anyways, WELCOME. Allow me to strap you in, yup, goes right there, s'posed to be that tight, yup, yup. Don't want you going anywhere until curtain call, now do we? LOL CHICKBEAM NONSENSE I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN ALREADY

I have no idea what I am doing. I wanted to try something I've never done before in this story, and that means it's about to get GAY IN HERE. I've never written a romance quite like this one, and I'm expecting it to be loads of fun. That and this is the first story I'm straight up winging. That's right – no more perfectionist outlining over here, nada. This is an experiment in madness and raw drafting to get me back to a creative mindset. Just you, me, a keyboard, and lots and lots of coffee. And I wanted to try saying fuck. That, too.

But seriously, thank you in bunches and bunches (of bananas), and I hope this one livens up a dull evening for you. Despite my unfiltered sass.

* * *

 **Day the First**

* * *

Somewhere along the barracks, an ear-piercing alarm shattered the quiet afternoon. Soldiers swarmed the walls and orders were shouted back and forth across the garrison as they assembled to stare out over the ramparts. Citizens in the streets below were screaming in panic and fleeing to their homes. The Captain of the Guard caught himself on the ledge and just spotted them getting away over the outer curtain. He threw his fist down. "Damn!"

The wagon skidded down the stone street, skipping the curb and rocketing into the air. The wheels roughly bounced at the high speed, pounding against the road in reckless frenzy. Those aboard the creaking, wooden death mobile were thoroughly rattled but strangely composed and celebratory. But for one, as usual.

The driver dodged another pedestrian, daring to look back over his shoulder in the fray. "Where's Skye?!"

"The hell should I know?" The brunette answered with a touch of snark, unpinning the hat framing the flawless outline of a well-groomed face. The cart shook at a particularly nasty turn, threatening to fall to splinters. The only one not holding on, the brunette fell face forward and somersaulted into their camping supplies with a crash, nearly hitting the dog. The tumble sent the massive skirts and slips over his head, leaving his bloomers exposed. Struggling up on his elbows with a feather from the hat drooping in front of his nose, he barked over the noise: "Fucking hell! Show a little decorum up there, would you?! Need I remind you, you've got a _lady_ in the back!"

"And your vocabulary is as eloquent as ever, my dear!" A voice above him teased with a chuckle.

"Oh, rag off!" He sputtered. The bull dog now giving him a face full, all tail wagging in excitement, he was forced to sit up against the wall. Allen tossed the dark wig aside, freeing his crimson-colored hair with a snide smirk. He picked himself up with Baron following close behind him and crawled to the bench, clinging to it to keep himself upright rather than risk another nasty fall. He peered out of the curtains flapping madly in the rush of wind to see their pursuers. "How many we got?"

"I can see seven!" Somehow hearing him through the raucous ride, the ginger dressed in his usual poet shirt, trousers, and high boots raised the bow and pulled the string back to his ear. It was a rare moment when his face was perfectly serious. He kept a steady hand and loosed another arrow whizzing through the air, followed by a cry as it made impact with a guard's shoulder just between his armor plates. He smiled victoriously down at his friend with boyish enthusiasm. "Make it six!"

"Still six too many," Klaus grumbled, yanking the reins back with all of his might. The horses whinnied in protest but obeyed and changed direction down a side street, slipping between the stucco buildings. A man threw himself against the wall just in time to clear the way, and a stray cat hissed as it narrowly escaped the wagon's wheel. They clattered onto another busy street, and it took all of Klaus' attention to keep from killing any of the screaming people who were clogging the path like ants before them. "He should be here by now! Are you sure he got out in time?"

" _I_ was lucky to get out in time," Allen admonished his worries with a click of his tongue. "You should be more worried about yourself – he's late, but he always catches up."

"How can he catch up!? Do you see how fast we're—!" Klaus instinctively planted his feet and almost stood as he roughly pulled the team of horses to the left. A woman carrying an ornate vase she had just purchased was nearly roadkill, not paying attention to the thieves zooming her way. She shrieked and fell back into the potter's shop in a dead faint as Klaus got the horses speeding around the sharp right corner of the intersection where more people dove out of the way. He spat dust from his mouth and ran a wrist over his forehead to get the hair out of his eyes. "We have to go back for him!"

"We are _not!_ " Jostled by the commotion, Allen nearly bit his tongue as he argued. He rolled up the sleeves of his gown and heaved a canister of milk over the edge of the cart. He let it go crashing down into the street behind them at the soldiers still in close pursuit, their horses scattering in fear at the rolling tin coming at them that was spilling out onto the street. Allen smugly clapped his hands of his work. "We're not leaving empty-handed, and I'll be damned if I'm _caught_ empty-handed!"

"He said not to!" Rod made the better argument. He narrowly missed an arrow that was shot back at him in return, the pointed head whistling by his ear. He swung out of the way and spun around with his back to the cart, precariously balancing along the side. His frame tensed, but he chuckled at his luck, stringing another arrow and firing back. "Ha! That one just about had my name on it! But Skye said he'd meet up with us – he'll be here!"

"He says lots of things," Klaus griped, shaking his head. They were leaving the most densely populated area of the city, so his obstacles were slimming out but so were his hopes. Allen was right – Skye was always late. But that didn't make him feel any better. He couldn't help but be a worrywart. No one else around him worried enough!

Having had enough of the acrobatics, Rod climbed along the side of the wagon where he was stationed for their defense, scooching along until he was to Klaus. He fell onto the driver's seat beside him, looking back over their shoulders at the soldiers steadily gaining. He looked to Klaus, their de facto leader while they were on their own. There was a concerned stitch in his brow with the wind whipping their hair in all directions. "What do you think? I'm all out of arrows, and time's been short too long. We'll be out of the city proper at the next left. Should we circle back and see if we can shake 'em?"

Now that he was getting his way, Klaus wasn't so sure. Though he wanted to go back for their leader, he had to trust him, too. Skye said to keep moving, so they had little choice. And things would be even stickier if Skye was indeed captured as he feared, and there would be no one to bust him out if they were all arrested. He just had to hope they could still help him in time if it came to the worst, and they'd save his head before the Queen had it.

Luckily, Klaus didn't have to make any big decisions. Literally flying in from out of nowhere, the man of the hour met with them as promised by hurling himself from a rooftop at their passing cart.

Klaus and Rod nearly lost their footing as they leapt in surprise at the roof of the wagon caving in with a mighty crash. Beams of wood and tattered shreds of the back canopy were now cluttering their cargo, and in the dead center was the silver-haired devil himself. And a passenger.

"Skye!" Rod cheered, grinning goofily as he jumped over the back of the seat to meet him. He unabashedly threw his arms around him, so glad was he to see him safe and completely ignoring the stranger with him.

Skye ruffled the boy's hair and threw back his head to the sun above them. Baron greeted him with a slew of barks, whines, and kisses, lucky to have been missed by Skye's crazy entrance. "Woo! I'll be feeling that one tomorrow! How's it going, kid?"

"Not good!" Rod reported, still beaming at him. Now that Skye was here, he was confident the tables had turned in their favor. For being so ridiculously smart on paper, the boy really put too much faith in his heroes. "We've got half the Queen's men on our tail, and our escape plans have changed since they blocked off the north bridge. I suggest we split south if—"

"Where have you been?!" Klaus cut to the chase, taking the left turn to get out of town. With the path all but clear, he turned back to see Skye and spotted the unfamiliar man laying with his hands bound and an unmistakable uniform clothing him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa - we did _not_ talk about hostages!"

"Aw, did you miss me?" Skye winked, quite oblivious to Klaus' anger.

"A hand here?!" Allen yelled for attention, holding up their only flintlock musket to his dressy shoulder, firing its only round and spooking all of the horses with the ringing shot. Still on his knees, he reached back and took one of Skye's similarly fashioned pistols, ducking down for cover and squinting back to return fire.

"Rod – help him out," Skye got back to business and gave him a sound pat on the back, keeping low. He took the disoriented hostage and pulled him out of the way, propping him against what was left of the wall.

"Aye, aye, sir!" Rod saluted, snagging a pistol by the barrel and crouching beside him.

" _Skye!"_

"Gets the blood pumping, eh?" Skye ignored Klaus behind them, sitting beside their prisoner and beckoning with his chin to the troops. "Ooo, get that third one on the right – the one with the stars. That's brass; he's no joke. Send him home with a scar – that'll get him promoted. You'll make his day."

Before Rod could follow suit, Klaus grabbed him by the scruff of his collar. Rod yelped in surprise and dropped the pistol but allowed Klaus to practically throw him into the driver's seat. He forced the reins into his hands and replaced his spot in the cart. "Rod, you drive! Skye! No hostages!"

"He left me no choice! He was _dying_ to come along," Skye rolled his eyes, still infuriatingly grinning about it all. He wouldn't admit it, but he was quite out of breath from all of his roof hopping aerobics. It would've been the usual if he hadn't had the extra burden of lugging a struggling captive.

Klaus glared hard, a rare thing for him to do despite being almost constantly fed up with Skye's flippant behavior on the daily. The seriousness sparked a sense of recognition in Skye's own eyes. He remained firm, pointing to the young man who was still gagged. "No. Hostages."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Skye challenged, yet his tone was open to suggestions. He explained the situation that led them to this point as Baron tortured the man, licking his face as he tried to wriggle out of the way of the happy bulldog. "He's the reason I got held up. Everything was all well and good and underway, but he complicated things a bit, so I just had to bring him with. Wasted enough time already. I must've dazzled him so much, he just couldn't let me go!"

It was Klaus' turn to roll his eyes. Skye was such a narcissist. Though he began to find it odd how close-lipped the servant was. Despite Baron being all over him and the curses his eyes told he wanted to say, his mouth was sealed. He wasn't gagged at all. He pieced it together. "The jewels…?"

Skye gestured to him with a shrug. "In his mouth."

Klaus rubbed a weary hand over his face, and the wagon shook at another tight turn, their belongings sliding around them. Skye continued to defend his decision to bring him along, at a loss what to do otherwise with Klaus' reaction and telling his story like he was spinning a cheery yarn. "He popped them right in! No hesitation! It's hilarious. How could I see that coming?! One minute I've got them in my sights, and the next thing I know, this guy scampers out of the woodwork—!"

Allen's expression soured, overhearing the debacle. He looked the servant boy up and down. "I'm sure if you beat him enough times, he'll spit 'em out."

A twinge of fear never passed over the serviceman's eerily determined face, but an unsettling thought passed over Klaus instead. He wouldn't allow any casualties, but if the boy _swallowed_ the Queen's jewels they had risked their lives to filch, he wasn't so sure he could convince his comrades out of anything drastic. An idea struck him, and he acted fast. "Don't move!"

Skye heeded Klaus' warning with little concern, watching the handsome servant's face as he in turn watched the eldest of the bunch rush to the front and dug through various cases and sifted through the little vials within them. His eyes reconnected with Skye's as the thief moved to squat in front of him, and his glare hardened again. Skye smiled, his eyes creasing in genuine amusement. Like a pompous cat observing a cornered mouse. His expression became more wide-eyed curious as he honed in on the younger man and put a finger to his tan chin, turning him to the light. "Huh… You're pretty enough to be a girl."

The action was quick – the servant propelled himself forward and head-butted Skye right in the face. Skye reeled at the impact, falling backwards onto his ass and touching a hand to his bloodied lip as he laughed. "Whoa, shiiiit! Ahahaha, I asked for that one, didn't I?"

Klaus came back over, shoving Skye further over with a palm to his face and a muttered: "Moron," as Skye continued to inquiringly dab at the crack in his lip. The servant kicked at Klaus, but he easily restrained him, planting his knee on his thigh and pinning him. With his hands full restraining him, Klaus opened the glass vial in his hand with his teeth, spitting the cork away. He forced the vial under the servant's nose. His eyes watered at the smell, and he began to cough. He coughed hard enough that he gagged on the object in his mouth, and he was forced to spit it out or choke.

"Good work, Klaus! Mine!" Skye praised, picking up the necklace without a moment's hesitation at the saliva still being stuck to it. He snatched it like a greedy raccoon. He stood and held it up to the light, twirling it in the sunbeams that glinted in beautiful sparkles off of it. "Now that's what I call spit-shined."

The roads were getting bumpier as they left the last store behind them and began to pass low class village houses. Dust kicked into the air below the horses' hooves, stinging their eyes and creating a haze for the Queen's men to squint through in their wake.

Tears in his eyes from the potent salts forced upon him and at his failure to protect Her Majesty's most prized possession, the servant spat at Skye's feet for good measure, still twisting his raw wrists in a futile attempt to free himself from the ropes that bound him. He glowered through pearl white strands of disheveled hair at Skye towering above him with disgust. "You have no honor!"

Skye was bemused by the accusation. He dangled the necklace down before the servant's nose, taunting him. "Haven't you heard? There's no honor among thieves!"

"That means something else entirely!" Klaus scolded him, smacking Skye upside the head for him to cut the crap. Skye might've had the moves, but he certainly wasn't the brains of their outfit. Klaus pointed at the servant as Skye now rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Now what do we do with him, genius?"

"Toss him off!" Allen shouted, fear finally gripping him as a lone rider amongst the chase emerged to the front. It was the Captain. Allen nearly grabbed Baron in his panic but swiped up a plank from the remains of the roof, chucking it into the path. The rider expertly steered his horse towards it, and the animal leapt over it with ease. Allen turned to those in the wagon. "We're screwed if we don't lose some weight."

"That would kill him!" Klaus said, putting himself between his friends and the servant out of instinct. He lacked urgency or surprise though, sounding more like an exasperated parent reproaching their children for saying a dirty word.

"Make up your minds! The forest's ahead!" Rod called back to them. They could all see the last bridge coming up fast.

"Hm…" Skye deliberated. He hummed a bit before making up his mind. He sighed, throwing up his hands in phony vexation. "I just can't kill a pretty face. It's your lucky day! What's your name, kid?"

When all three in back looked at him, the servant felt compelled to answer. This introduction had taken him off guard, and he appeared more shy. His voice was small and uncertain. "Sanjay…?"

Skye nodded to Klaus, and the two unsteadily brought Sanjay to his feet with them. His heart was racing as they led him to the edge of the cart, forcing him to look down at the ground flying by underneath them. They had a firm grip on both of his arms, and even though Klaus finally severed his bonds, he wasn't a good fighter – he wouldn't be able to take them.

"You guys…!" Allen warned, the Captain of the Guard now close enough that he could see his mismatched eyes glint with a sheen of vengeance.

"Well, Sanjay, thanks for travelling with us. It's been delightful. I'll look you up if I'm ever in the area. Hup!" Skye signaled and lifted.

With Klaus' combined strength, they hoisted the boy up clear off of his feet and horizontal, throwing him over the side as the bridge sped by. Sanjay yelled and flailed his arms, but he had the good sense to hold his breath in time as he made impact with the dirty river water. He came up sputtering, a little shaken from his encounter with the bandits but sufficiently safe.

Skye had his hands proudly on his hips, looking back at the drenched servant emerging on the surface and coughing. "There, ya happy? Everyone's in one piece!"

Klaus just quietly shook his head, but there was no mistaking the relief in his features. The two shared a meaningful glance before Skye's eyes went wide, and he tackled Klaus to the floor in the nick of time as a sword swiped out at their necks.

He looked up at the cloud-spotted sky from his back where he landed beside his dark-haired friend. Skye was still reeling from the close call, so he didn't dare lift his head, but he shouted at the man still wearing a garden party dress. "Whoa, Allen, weren't you on that?! Nearly nicked us there."

Allen was plastered to the floor as well, hands over his head to take shelter. His tone was defensive and quite put out. "I ran out of bullets! I can't fire _magic_ at him!"

"No, that would just be ridiculous," Skye had to agree with a hum of thought at the image.

The Captain caught up with Rod up front. With one hand, Rod held tight the reins and with his other, he threw what was within reach to defend himself. Baron barked and growled as Rod flung anything and everything they had. After the kettle came the tarp, the switch, and a tent stake. Klaus only complained when one of his black cases sailed at the Captain and missed, tumbling to the grassy roadside and spilling everywhere.

"My _potions!_ " Klaus wailed, leaning out and looking after them until they disappeared. "Those took _months!"_

"Now, Rod, that was just insensitive," Skye reprimanded, reloading one of his pistols as quick as he could, ramming the paper down the hot barrel. Allen was trying to help by throwing more junk over the side, but he was being choosey before touching the wood splinters.

"My sincerest apologies, Klaus!" Rod said, only half-focused as the Captain overtook them and rode alongside their horses.

Allen threw the last unessential item and pulled Baron towards him to get him from jumping up to Rod. He nodded his chin towards the Captain pulling ahead, his horse's nostrils flared as it surpassed their own team of two. "What's he doing?!"

Skye finished loading his pistol, but it was too late. He aimed at the Captain, but he watched as the imperial guard brought his arm down. A dead end into a ravine was just ahead. "Uh-oh."

Rod closed his eyes and flinched. With a great clang, the Captain struck the brittle chain with his sword and sent the horses separate from the wagon. The animals were booking it as they veered away from the chaos, following the dirt road into the valley. They rapidly lost momentum without their horses, but it wasn't nearly enough to make their meeting with the cliff any less inevitable. It was painfully aware the Captain was going to take them dead or alive as he lingered back, tugging on the reins of his own steed and coming to a stop to wait out their demise as they left the dirt road.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Skye started throwing their most important valuables into Klaus' and Allen's arms as their cart kicked up turf. He put the Queen's gaudy necklace worth a kingdom around his own neck and floundered, feeling around like a blind man in the dark. He looked up. "Rod! Arrow!"

"I ran out back in the city!" Rod spun around, now not needing to steer as they were totally out of control. He jumped down and squatted before Skye, seeing him work and quickly helping him tie a length of rope around a long plank.

"The hell are we going to do?! That necklace isn't worth anything in our cold, dead hands!" Allen said, eyes flying back and forth to try to understand what the two fastest thinkers were scheming and how to make himself useful. At the moment, he was given dog duty, holding Baron who was squirming to get loose. Allen seemed to be completely unaware of how ridiculous he looked still fully clothed in his disguise, the fake breasts lopsided out of his corset.

Skye was furiously going through his bullshit strategy in his mind, hoping he wasn't forgetting anything. Rod was tying fast, precise knots to wrap around the crew, and it made him glad someone else was on his wavelength – he'd need it for this to work. The gap was a breath away, so Skye had to act lightning fast, remembering that the Captain had a bow strapped to his saddle.

The thief stood despite Klaus pulling on his pant leg to try to yank him back down for cover. Skye bowed and waved, presenting the glimmering jewels about his neck that felt rather like a noose at this point. "Thank you for your assistance with our getaway! This will be the last you ever see of Skye the Phan—"

He didn't get to finish his little sham before the arrow he so wanted was coming at him. The Captain poised at the ready for the open target, taking it for his insolence. Skye hoped it would lob, but the projectile came in fast. Still, he nabbed it like a golden retriever, spinning around on his heel at the catch that left a streak of shimmering red across his palm and threw him down to the floor.

"I actually did it! Hahaha! Holy shit, that hurt!" He laughed in disbelief as he blew the hair from his eyes and marveled at the arrow in his bloody fist. They went over the side, and he saluted the Captain in thanks as they disappeared.

"Skyyyyye!" Was all Allen could scream, leaving the curses to follow dying on his tongue as they felt the weightlessness of the free fall, their stomachs feeling like they were in their throats. Their ears rang in the silence but for the wind ripping past them as they were pulled by gravity.

Skye tossed the arrow to Rod who was already poising his bow. He messily noked it and aimed, shooting the arrow that was now tied to their life-saving rope. It connected with the soft earth of the topsoil above them and dragged along the ground as it made them brake. The rope shared between them snapped impossibly tight, smashing them all together as the wagon fell to the canopy of trees in the ravine far below them. The cart smashed through the branches, dicing into pieces like waves on the shore.

They had an uneasy breath in their painful suspension until the arrow snapped, and they were hurtling back down. The beam they were tied to above them bumped along the cliff and caught rocks and then the tops of trees, making their fall preciously slower as it jerked them towards the ground. The plank landed sideways along a pair of broken branches in a pine, a good twenty or so feet in the air, and the boys seemed to finally stop with a sudden lurch.

Pine needles in their hair and scrapes all along their arms and legs and faces, the guys were miraculously alive after their drop. They were all still tied uncomfortably close but for Rod who managed to be dangling further down the rope, his feet kicking merrily as he hung upside down by his waist. He was somehow still very perky as he clapped his heels together with the blood rushing to his head. "Yay! We did it! I knew Skye could save us!"

"I… I'm…" Allen couldn't find words, hanging by Skye's ankle and feeling rather moodily violated as Rod stared up his skirt. He pursed his lips, and the shock of their situation dimmed considerably. Baron was still in his arms, hanging quite limply as his temper had cooled after the piss was scared out of him. Allen stared upwards. "I can't believe that worked. Uh… nice shot, Rod."

Klaus couldn't help but swell with pride for his childhood friend. They had been through thick and thin, and they had always gotten out of it by the wave of good fortune Skye seemed to be perpetually riding. He was reckless, and he was a fool. But he was a damn good leader. "Well! It's not going to be easy getting down from here, so we'll have to celebrate later. Those merchants on the cape aren't going to stand around waiting for those jewels, so we'd best be on our – what are you doing?!"

All heads turned up to see Skye with his pocket dagger steadily sawing at the line over his head. Klaus yelled, Allen kicked, and Rod advised the angle of their descent would most certainly cause _at least_ a concussion, but Skye went unhindered until the rope broke free of their weight, and they fell the remaining distance to the forest floor, screaming profanities to their leader's name all the way.


	2. The Day After the First

The website's been having issues, and I haven't been able to upload. WEIRD. This story is going to have sporadic, rapid updates anyways, but… WEIRD. But mostly annoying.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **The Day After the First**

* * *

He waited atop the cliff side on his own. His horse's tail switched at the early summer flies gathering around them, and they listened to the quiet hum of the cicadas singing in the trees below.

It wasn't too long before a steady thrum began to reach them, picking up into a tumultuous pounding of horses' hooves beating in time with one another. When the clank of steel became loud enough, he raised his hand to signal their halt. The company came to a stop at the edge of the road, horses all breathing hard from the chase. Only two riders joined him, one dismounting and carefully leaning down to peer over the edge.

The First Lieutenant gripped her reins as her horse shook his head and snorted. She addressed the Captain. "Our apologies, sir. It was quite a mess back there! Did you, uh… apprehend the criminals?"

"They would be here if he did, don't you think?" Her partner said flatly, still gazing into the ravine with a placid expression.

She puffed out her cheeks. "Respect your superior officer!"

The Captain waited on Second Lieutenant Gareth. When the younger man looked up to him, he studied his face. "Surely they could not survive a fall such as this?"

When the Captain was silent, the Lieutenant, too, quieted despite her anger at being ignored. She finally broke the silence, looking out over the gorge herself. "You mean to tell me they went over _that?_ And you think they _lived?"_

The Captain's green eye seemed to shine brighter in the sunshine. He briskly turned away from the forest. "Assemble… the scouts. Sweep the area. We recover the Queen Star."

Gareth saluted and called out to the troops. They reassembled the line as they were given instruction to circle the valley and search every last chasm. There were murmurs among them of suspicion. The forest had gone unexplored and most considered it forbidden. And if the perpetrators were indeed dead as they assumed, the jewels would not be easy to find.

Tabitha observed her Captain, a set frown on her determined features. She swiveled her horse about. "And the thieves, sir?"

The Captain met her eyes for the first time, giving her a nod of dismissal. "Retrieve them. Alive… or dead."

The Lieutenant bowed her head and followed after Gareth, riding ahead of the immediate chosen to descend on the search mission. He watched her go, turning away from the ravine at last. Gale slung his bow across his back and settled into his saddle with resignation. He switched his horse and went down the road back towards the city to consult with Her Majesty.

* * *

After the bumps and bruises were accounted for, the real work began. The thieves were racing the clock, sure there would be an excavation party sent to find their mangled corpses and the Queen's jewels at any moment. They scavenged the wreckage of their wagon for what they could still use and found little to salvage. Then they walked. It was well after midnight when they finally made camp.

Between the gnarled roots of enormous trees looming well overhead, the band collapsed. Klaus nagged that they didn't have long to sleep, but Skye was out before he could even begin the fire.

He dropped the flint and sat back, looking around his ankles for the frying pan. "Rod? Didn't you have the fry pan?"

"The what now?" Rod asked, not paying him any attention. His toolkit had survived, and he was busy with his strange mechanisms, tuning some sort of device with too many springs. Baron was sleeping below him, his paws stuck in the air and twitching. When Klaus didn't answer, he removed his heavy glass goggles and pointed over by Skye. "Oh, there! It's with Skye."

"Ah," Klaus thanked him with the grunt of acknowledgement. He swiped it up, giving his friend a sour look in passing as he envied his snoring. Skye's arm was thrown over his head, and his other hand was wound up his shirt and resting on his stomach. The left hand where he caught the arrow was shoddily bandaged, and Klaus noted with some concern that the blood was already blotting through. But Skye's mouth hung open, and he was still in content. He looked much too comfortable to be on the lamb. Klaus glowered. "Like a baby."

"I'm feeling _loads_ better!" Allen announced, re-entering their clearing with his disguise slung over his shoulder. He tossed the heavy layers of clothes down for his makeshift bed, looking around for what to do with his accessories. They could never know – the guise of a wealthy lady might still come in handy. And he rather liked the wig. He wound up setting his things by Rod and meandering over by where Klaus was scrounging up some dinner. Beads of river water still dotted his skin and weighed down his hair from his bath in the river. "Klaus, you have an extra shirt? My clothes were lost somewhere around Manchester Street."

"My pack is around; I don't mind," Klaus looked up from the potatoes he was slicing and gave Allen a skeptical look. "And feel free to take some trousers, too."

"What? I think they look alright," Allen made a mock twirl, still in his women's bloomers and nothing else. Klaus rolled his eyes.

Allen turned away from him and went to Rod's bags first, digging through the various knickknacks and doodads. Rod chanced a rare glance up and prodded a bag at his foot. "Looking for your glasses, Allen? I think they're in that one."

"Ah. Thanks," he muttered, searching where Rod directed until he found a pair of spectacles. Pushing his wet hair back, he flicked the frames open and set them on his nose, now seeing a bit clearer than before. He clapped his hands at the ready. "Now! Let's see what we've got."

He sauntered over and found Klaus' pack. He pulled the drawstring, whistling all the while with his hair dripping on his shoulders. The melody lilted and came to a long, low exhale as he held up shirts to compare. "Klaus, you have more clothes than I do."

"I _know_ that's not true," he answered immediately. The potatoes met the hot fry pan and began to sizzle.

"Well, I don't know…" Rod piped up. He scratched his chin and noticed Allen's stuff had appeared within his reach. He took up the fake breasts – just pillows of downy goose feathers – and pressed and squeezed them in amusement. "You're the only one who really fully dresses. Except Allen when he's working a scam. But you've got waistcoats and doublets and the whole lot."

"It's part of his shtick. He fusses," Allen explained to him, choosing a green tunic and pulling it over his head. He decided it clashed with his hair and took it off, taking up a navy colored, sleeveless shirt instead. "Ah, the joys of a motley crew. Not the most fashionable, but they'll work, I suppose."

Klaus stuck his tongue in his cheek, clearly annoyed and overtired. "Would you like to cook then? Because I'd be happy to 'fuss' elsewhere."

"It's not a bad thing! I rather like the way you dress," Rod said, always the supportive one.

Allen was waving a hand over the fire, distorting the light illuminating Skye's face and making shadows. "Is he going to sleep through fried potatoes? Because I'll be happy to take his share."

"I'm not sleeping; I'm dreaming," Skye hummed from his spot, still not moving his elbow from his nose.

"Skye?! I thought you were asleep!" Klaus sounded genuinely offended. His shout woke the dog who stirred and grumbled at all of the noise. Klaus stoked the fire before holding the hot pan back over the flames, one of his waistcoats the guys had been making fun of being used as his pot holder. "Make yourself useful and get some firewood if you're just lazing around."

Skye rolled onto his stomach with a whine of indignation. Klaus picked up one of his boots and chucked it at him, hitting Skye in the shoulder. He groaned louder in protest, but he finally rose, stretching his arms up over his head. "Alright, alright! Aah… You know, these woods aren't half bad. And not a specter in sight! See, what did I tell you? Everything's according to plan."

"I still don't like not knowing. And rumors come from truths. Never underestimate a story!" Rod said, his voice muffled as he rubbed his face in the boobs. Allen was disturbed enough at the sight that he went and roughly took them back. "Aw, hey! They were gonna be my pillow…"

Allen held Rod's head at bay as the boy grabbed and pathetically reached to get the coveted DD's back. "According to plan? That _cliff_ was the plan? I thought the plan was supposed to include catching the caravan to Oak Tree and meeting up with our buyers on the East coast. Not wandering on foot in a haunted forest."

"Plans change. Where's your sense of adventure?" Skye simply said, sidestepping him and giving Allen a flick to the forehead. Allen clicked his tongue. Had enough of Rod, he pushed and sent Rod sprawling back off of the rock he was perched on with a yelped 'hey!' of protest.

Klaus was holding a grudge, but he finally looked up to see if Skye would help him with the food. Instead, he wasn't at all surprised to see the silver-haired thief had passed him by and was sitting atop a short, steep ledge. No one had noticed his sleight of hand, but he had acquired one of Rod's tools, and he was busy prying the gems from their moorings on the priceless necklace. Klaus just sighed and took the potatoes off the fire, noticing they were a bit scorched.

Skye expertly snapped the delicate casing away without chipping the amethyst jewel lodged in the silver. He smiled, addressing his comrades without taking his similarly colored eyes off of the gem and his work. "That was good work, boys! Where are we going on vacation?"

"Konohana has lovely scenery this time of year," Allen suggested, plopping down cross-legged by the fire and giving Klaus a hand – namely trying to take his share first.

"I vote for Lulukoko! I've always wanted to try their local cuisine and see the wildlife," Rod threw his hand in the air like he was called upon in a classroom. The action sent one of his gadgets flying, and Baron excitedly ran to retrieve it.

"And I hear the women there are beautiful. Now you're thinking, Rod," Allen winked, stealing a potato slice and wincing at the heat burning his tongue.

"Where would you like to vacation, Klaus?" Skye asked to include his perspective.

"No vacations! We have to keep moving," Klaus said with finality, smacking Allen's hand away. The red-head sucked on his wounded finger with a glower. "We can't relax yet. Just like you said – plans changed. We need to figure out how we're going to get out of this forest and back on track and hope we're still on time for the rendezvous."

"Oh, _rendezvous_ ," Skye emphasized the word with sarcasm. A particularly stubborn ornament was keeping the loose gem in place, like a loose tooth not quite ready to fall. It finally popped, and Skye snagged it before it could drop to the dirt. He held it up between his fingers with a grin. "Anyone in the whole wide world will throw themselves into fire for a chance to buy one of these beauties. I say we forget the rendezvous all together, ride off into the sunset, and _buy_ Lulukoko with the profit these things turn over."

Klaus skewered a serving on a stick and passed it to Rod first since he had been quiet and out of the way. The ginger squealed in delight and took it before Allen could intervene. Klaus gave the next stick of hot potato to Skye behind him, holding it over his head until he felt the weight leave his hand. "That still leaves out how we're going to get out of this forest. This place is a tangled maze, and if we don't leave soon, we're going to starve to death. Those potatoes were all we had."

That didn't please Skye. He swallowed the taste and tossed his stick at the fire. "Hm, can't have that. Rod! Where are we?"

Rod nearly choked as he tried to eat faster, perking up like his dog at the command. He finally swallowed hard as he pointed at the sky hidden by the thick canopy. Since he couldn't use his usual methods of reading the stars, he dug through his various, strange devices in his pack, dropping them every which way. A spinner of some kind landed on Baron, making the bulldog jump up and run over towards Allen in fear. Rod chose a funny looking tube and extended it, twirling it about and tapping a dial. "Uh…! I'd say we're about… two, three, nine… twenty-seven points southeast…! Um, and… about a league and a half from water?"

"So we're lost," Klaus concluded from the vague statistics. He gave up fighting Allen and handed him the leftovers. He could've been greedy, but he was happy to see Allen share with Baron.

"Water? What kind of water?" Skye asked curiously, tilting his head sideways.

"Probably that river not forty paces from here," Allen joked as he lobbed the last potato slice, congratulating Baron when he caught it with his severe under bite. He humored Rod's pursuits as he enjoyed tinkering and inventing, but rarely did his inventions serve practical means.

"Hm…" Rod determined it was a good question, ignoring Allen's quip. He stood tall upon his rock and held aloft his pipe. A propeller on the end buzzed and whirred in the breeze, clicking as it did so. He brought it back down, muttering to himself as he studied it. "Considering the density of the air, the foliage, the typical nutrients in the soil… I'd say it's the ocean!"

"Excellent!" Skye slapped his knee. "That's our ticket. We'll find the coast, get to the nearest town, steal some horses, and be on our merry way."

"A town? Out here? Not likely…" Klaus shook his head, a smile finally greeting his features. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Why do you always have an answer for everything?"

Skye gave him a demeaning smirk, all but cooing at him. "Oh, Klaus. Flattery will get you everywhere."

Klaus was instantly put off by being belittled, but he took it in stride, leaning back on his palms in the dirt and staring up at the branches so impossibly high above. "You know, it reminds me of the time we were literally living in a gutter. You were still thinking about the positives then, too."

"Oh? What did I say?" Skye prompted, genuinely not remembering the specifics. But his back ached at the memory.

He passed his tongue over his teeth, ignoring the rumbling of his stomach. "How it was convenient it caught the rain, so we'd never go thirsty. Something like that."

Skye pouted in boredom. "That's all? I was hoping it would be something more romantic."

He quickly received Klaus' other boot.

"You guys are disgusting," Allen commented, scratching behind Baron's ears. The bulldog's leg thumped happily as he leaned into his hand. "Living in squalor like pigs – you wouldn't catch us _dead_ in a gutter let alone living in one. Isn't that right, Rod?"

"Mm…" Rod hummed in thought. He was absorbed in his tinkering again, but he had one ear in on the conversation. "Maybe… but that's usually because you could charm your way into… well, just about anywhere. Remember when we conned those sailors in the south with our card tricks, and the one asked for your hand? He wasn't even mad we robbed him blind!"

"You're kidding," Klaus stated, his voice cracking as he held in the laughter. When Allen snapped his head around to bore a glare into him, it let loose, and he held a hand over his mouth to contain himself.

"The yellow dress was always a dead ringer for that kind of thing, wasn't it? Whatever happened to it?" Rod asked, looking up innocently at his childhood friend.

"Yeah, what happened to it, Allen? I'm sure you were quite the looker in it. Stealing all the hearts, you _dog_ ," Skye smiled wide, unable to hide his delight as well. Klaus was outright giggling and scooting away from the red head to dodge his swipes.

"That was ages ago! And I can't help I look great in anything," Allen defended himself with a nose in the air. Baron nosed his knee, hoping for more pets, but he went ignored since Allen was in a huff.

"Too bad you couldn't model it for us," Klaus managed between laughs.

Skye held up a hand in warning. "Careful what you wish for! You might've fallen in love!"

The pair burst into hysterics, rolling backwards. Skye had to put the necklace away or else risk losing their money ticket to the weeds. Allen waited patiently for them to stop, and Rod seemed to be totally oblivious to the embarrassing situation he created. Baron was glad to see those in high spirits, bounding over to Klaus and barking.

Allen's confidence returned to normal – which was swelled high like a peacock in full plumage. He crossed his arms and waited for them to quiet, finally getting out his own humiliating anecdote. "Hm, that's all well and funny, but it has nothing on the scam we pulled in Zephyr when we got in on the auction with Rod dressed up like a sexy, gypsy girl—"

"You said you'd never talk about that! !" Rod wailed, dropping everything to leap at his friend to shut him up.

The bandits laughed and shared stories and egged one another on and passed the wee hours of the morning. By the time they finally got to sleep, they felt full despite their scraps in lieu of a real meal.

But their stomachs couldn't be ignored for long. As the sun rose, the forest became unbearably humid. They trudged along on weary feet, short-tempered and foul mouthed as they longed for rest, food, and escape. But the trees all ran together, each turn they took looking the same as the last. They were in the Minotaur's labyrinth of brambles and roots, and they were on the cusp of a decision: left or right. One way would take them up the hill and around the bend, putting the wood to a quick end. Freedom and riches beyond compare. And the other way would lead them deeper into the maze towards the undiscovered and the mysterious. Where well-kept secrets slept with a budding adventure.


	3. The Day Following the First Day After th

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 **The Day Following the First Day After the First**

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Plodding along, each footstep feeling heavier than the last, the crew meandered through the trees. They were exhausted. Bugs swarmed by their ears, and the shade from the trees blocking out every last scrap of sky didn't help to ease the heat. It felt more like an oven with every arduous step.

Allen was tight-lipped and walking at a brisk pace to get the journey over with. Even Klaus, who was usually quite composed, was slouching his shoulders. Skye led the way with one of Rod's trinkets in his hands – what was essentially a glorified dowsing rod. He shook it in frustration, hopping over a root.

"Baron! Here, boy!" Rod whistled, trailing behind. He sprung ahead of the group around the trees, the most energetic of the bunch as he called for his missing dog. Sometime during the night, the bulldog had wandered off. Though some of them were genuinely worried he had gotten himself lost or met with a predator bigger and hungrier than him, the incident caused Rod to conclude there were definitely ghosts in the forbidden forest, and they had kidnapped his dog. He cupped his hands to his face and yelled as loud as he could. "Baaaaroooooon!"

"Rod, enough already! You're giving Klaus a headache," Allen scolded with a light whine of his own, rubbing his temples. Klaus didn't deny the accusation either and watched his footing. "He'll come around – you know how he is. He's probably just nosing about."

Rod was a good deal ahead and called back to them. "Whaaaat?"

"Get over here!" Allen hollered back. Skye stopped short, and Allen ran into his back nose first. His glasses were shoved up the bridge of his nose into his forehead, and he grumpily pushed away, nearly causing a train wreck as Klaus skidded to a stop behind him. "Will you stop doing that?!"

"I can't figure out how this contraption works…" Skye mumbled, holding it upside down and shaking it again. He listened to it, hoping it would give him some sort of clue he was on the right track, but it was as silent as his crew surrounding him.

Rod found his way and met them, the multiple packs strapped to him like he was a burro clanging around his shoulders. He hiked them higher, bouncing to a stop before Skye. He took the y-shaped bar from him and looked it over. "Huh, that's strange…"

"What? Is it broken?" Allen peered over Skye's shoulder as Klaus balanced to get a pebble from his shoe.

"No," Rod looked sheepish, ruffling his hair. "I never finished it! So it's just a stick. Heh."

Skye took it back and bopped Rod over the head with it. Rod clutched his noggin with a yelp of pain as Skye stepped by him. "Well, standing around isn't going to get us anywhere, and Rod's rod isn't going to help us either. Keep walking!"

Klaus opened his mouth to comment, but he quickly decided not to. As his group left him, he pitched over and caught himself, struggling to put his boot back on. "Aaaggh, I'm too old for this…!"

"Nonsense! You're a spring chicken," Skye winked back at him. His hair was tied at the nape of his neck to be out of the way, the only man in the group with hair long enough to do so. He pulled at it with his lips pursed, his stomach grumbling with hunger. "Hm… chicken… Well, then again, since Klaus has volunteered – he _is_ the eldest – he'll be the first to be eaten. We whole-heartedly appreciate your selflessness, my friend."

Allen thought about this suggestion with an open, inquisitive mind. He pointed out the immediate issue with this plan to eat Klaus. "But don't the old ones taste the worst?"

"Yet mutton is a delicacy," Skye reminded him. Allen bobbed his head as he pondered that, having to agree that mutton was quite good.

"I ought to…" Klaus threatened but immediately stumbled. He bemoaned his aching feet, hoping the approaching path up ahead would be their last as he discreetly rubbed the crick his back.

"Skyyyyye, I gotta pee!" Rod gripped the front of his pants, twisting his legs like a child.

"Then go – we don't care!" Allen gave him a shove, and Rod ran to a tree, yelling over his shoulder not to leave him behind. Allen folded his arms and turned his back to him, looking much like an impatient father outside a mall bathroom.

Klaus and Skye wandered ahead until they came to a notable fork in the road. There hadn't been much of a trail to follow but for the deer paths, but this was very much a divide, marked by a massive tree well over a hundred feet tall. Skye rubbed his chin, standing in the center, looking left and right and back again.

Dumping his pack to the ground with a clatter, Klaus sat on top of it with a sigh. He took the opportunity to remove his other boot and shook it out, finding gritty little rocks and a few twigs tumbling out with dust. He left it off, reclining into his pack and rubbing his face with his free hand. He peered out between his fingers. "How's your hand?"

"Hm~? What's that, mutton chop?" Skye hummed with nonchalance. He still had Rod's incomplete invention, and he was trying to use it anyhow. He pointed the stick to the right and frowned, swinging it left and smiling.

"You were sloppy the other day. It might get infected if I don't have a look at it," Klaus warned him, dropping his hand and sitting up. He wasn't going to let 'mutton chop' catch on, so he was quick to completely ignore it.

"Sloppy?!" His tone immediately took offense as he stopped what he was doing. He whirled around on his heel, looking as smug as ever with a hand to his chest. "Need I remind you _whom_ you're speaking to? Who _caught_ an arrow barehanded? Who's _holding_ the Queen Star?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, waving him over. "Yeah, whatever; let me see it."

Skye walked back to him without further quip and held out his open palm. The yellowed bandage had a dark stain in his palm where he caught the arrow, and Klaus let out a huff at seeing it. He shook his head in disapproval as he fished what was little left of the roll of bandage cloth he had in his pocket. Skye waited patiently as Klaus carefully began removing the old one, the former hissing through his teeth at the sting of it being exposed to the open air. Skye looked down at his wound with a stitch of disgust wrinkling his nose. "Hrm. Not exactly an ideal scar, but I suppose it'll do. Makes me look tough, eh?"

When Klaus just silently unwound the new bandage, Skye knew there was more bothering him about his 'sloppiness' the day of the heist. Skye wisely waited for him to address it.

It took him a good minute, winding the clean fabric back around Skye's hand, until he finally spoke up. "I really thought you were… that you were okay with him dying back there. The possibility was more than probable given the situation. He was innocent. You know how I feel about that sort of thing. I don't like it. Since the start, I told you I didn't care as long as nobody got hurt."

"You do," Skye corrected him shortly. Klaus looked up, but Skye's eyes were on the forest around them. "You care too much. And someone _always_ gets hurt."

Klaus clenched his teeth and turned his eyes downward before Skye's could meet his. He finished his temporary medical attention, firmly tying the wrap behind Skye's thumb. Klaus sounded sadder, more honest as he confessed his frustrations. "I don't like hostages! And I… I know you don't owe me anything… but…"

Skye took Klaus' hand and squatted down to his level, looking up to meet his gaze. He gave a meaningful squeeze around his palm with his own bandaged one, and he nodded. They shook. He understood. Skye didn't tell him why or promise never to do it again. But it eased his fears.

His eyes bored into him a stretch too long, making Klaus uncomfortable. Skye's lips parted, and he simply said: "Ow."

"You're an idiot," Klaus reaffirmed with all seriousness, putting the last scrap of bandage away into his pocket and rising to his feet. He swatted his hand away when he tried to help him up, and Skye brought his palm up to his mouth, blowing on it like that would cool the stinging sensation.

"Guess this hand is going to be quite useless for awhile," Skye said in wistful disappointment. He gingerly held the dowsing rod in both hands, testing the weight and favoring his right hand. "Damn shame."

Allen hopped down from root to root and jumped to the dirt, patting the dust from his pants. Rod followed soon after him, sliding down the slope and staggering to a stop. He ran up to Skye to see what he missed. He noted the two different paths. "Which way we taking, sir?"

Skye held up the dowsing rod and pointed with finality. "Yes. Definitely. I can feel it. We're going left!"

"Now wait a minute," Allen spoke up. He always had an argument to anything Skye chose. "What makes you decide? The ground has been steadily sloping, and if I'm not mistaken, the right path is higher. We should go right."

"If it'll bring us out of this bowl, I'd have to agree," Klaus chimed in.

"Hm… based on the direction we've been heading and the elevation, perhaps it would make more sense to go right…" Rod deduced, going over their footsteps in his memory.

Skye gave his head a demeaning pat. "But your navigator says _left_."

Allen snatched the rod from Skye and chucked it as far as he could from their conversation. He turned on Skye, poking him in the chest. "That _thing_ is useless! Can't you be serious for once?! Our lives depend on this!"

"Alright, that's enough," Klaus got between them, giving Allen a slightly rougher push as he gripped their shoulders. He pointedly looked him in the eye. "Skye made his decision. If you're not sold we can take a vote. All those in favor of going left?"

Skye proudly shot his hand over his head, the only one to do so. He grinned at them all, still somehow confident he was going to get his way. Rod suddenly spun around, listening to the woods around them.

"Alright… so that's clear," Klaus awkwardly let both men go. He went and took up his pack, slinging it over his shoulder. "We'll make for the right, and if it dead ends, we can come back to this point and try th—"

"Baron!" Rod interrupted. Everyone quieted and listened close, trying to hear what the ginger was hearing. He broke away from the group to chase after the distant bark of his dog, taking the path to the left. "Baroooooon! I'm coming, boy!"

Allen scrambled into gear, sprinting after him and catching himself as he stumbled. "Rod! I didn't hear anything?! Rod! Come back!"

Skye gestured to the open road, a spring in his step as he trailed after the crew. "Well, that's settled then! To the left we go!"

"Always gets his way…" Klaus grumbled to himself, hiking up his pack and lazily falling into step. It wasn't long before Skye's pace outmatched him, and they had left him far behind. Klaus groaned and started at a jog to catch up, his feet aching in protest. "Too old for this…!"

By the time Klaus found them again, the three were comically side by side, staring up in similar wonder and curiosity at the rock wall before them. Klaus came to a stop beside Skye, breathing hard and holding his knees, wishing for death. He stood up straight and slicked his short hair back from his forehead, frowning at the mass before them. "Where…? What is this?"

"It appears to be a giant rock," Allen answered sarcastically. Klaus glared in annoyance at him.

"It's not altogether impossible that we walked so far, and the trees have hidden the sky all this time… but an entire _mountain?_ We've been walking in its shadow for miles, and we were none the wiser. Fascinating…" Rod was the first to approach it.

Klaus only now noticed that they had stopped before a massive crevice splitting the rock. It was only visible from a chance angle, and it was narrow, albeit cramped, passageway. He discovered it when Rod mysteriously seemed to disappear right before his eyes into the mountain like it had reached out and swallowed him. He crowded behind Allen and Skye to get a better view as Rod carefully inched along.

Suddenly, the strangest of noises filtered by them on the wind. Like the whisperings of… _voices_. The hairs on their necks stood on end and a deep sense of dread rooted in the pits of their stomachs. Rod whimpered and scurried back to them, diving at Allen and hiding behind him. "I _told_ you! I told you there were ghosts!"

Though they were all genuinely unnerved, Skye was still the best at hiding it. He held a hand to his chin, still staring down the shadowy mountain pass. "Rod, where are we?"

Rod peeked out from behind Allen's shirt, gnawing his lip with doubt. "I… I don't know…"

" _You_ don't know?" Allen looked over his shoulder at him in evident surprise. For all the teasing he gave him, he always had the utmost confidence that Rod knew what was best. Despite his common sense and social skills being near zilch, Rod was easily the most book smart of them all. It was outrageous that he wouldn't know something.

Rod defended himself with more pride. "I've memorized every map I've come across, but the scholar's charts ended with the start of the forest. Everything beyond it is yet unexplored. _Nobody_ knows where we are."

Skye's signature smirk crept back across his face. "How… perfect. Looks like I'll have to be the brave one and fearlessly lead the way. Don't keep me waiting!"

Klaus reached out to him, but he missed as Skye went in first. The path wasn't so slim that they were pressed against the walls, but it curved, and he was instantly lost from their view by the jagged slope.

"Skye!" Rod called to him before anyone else could. He felt another wave of cold fear pass through his heart as the whispering increased in volume, a rush of air like a long breath hitting them in the face and tousling their hair. They shuddered.

"It's… just the wind," Klaus said, taking a brave step and going in after him.

When he disappeared around the bend, Allen and Rod were left to make up their minds. The mountain seemed to sigh.

"Ba-Ba-Baron's in there…" Rod grit his teeth. He strengthened his resolve but still felt his legs shaking. He was glad he relieved himself before. Closing his eyes, he ran forward, calling after Klaus. "Klaus! Klaus, wait for me!"

"Rod! Don't…!" Allen yelled, but Rod was quite out of earshot by the time. He tapped his foot for a minute and began to pace, waiting for them to discover it was a dead end and come back out feeling like fools for working themselves up over it. But no one was coming back. Put out and not willing to admit to himself the path made him more than uneasy, Allen finally went in last with a growl. "Grrrhhh! No one ever listens! If we just took the other path, we could've been out of here and halfway to Lulukoko…!"

He was quite right, but the boys would never know that. They went in line, each hurrying to catch up with the last person who went in, and Skye leading the way and all but running ahead. The hush of voices turned into a low whistle that was clearly the wind hitting the stone and echoing by their ears. It all came to a natural silence as Skye squinted at the bright sunlight pouring down on the open grass ahead of him.

Skye stood there, taking it all in. He sidestepped out of the way, and soon Klaus joined him. He didn't move in time before Rod came running into him. Allen reunited with them at long last, babbling about being left behind. But he quieted when he saw what they were all staring at.

A long, open valley stretched out before them in the rolling greens and yellows of summer. They were high up on a ridge of the mountain cliff, a well-worn path winding down below them. The sparkling blue of the ocean gleamed along a white beachfront, and seagulls cawed on the rocks by the shore before they'd settle in for the night. Berries and bamboo shoots were among the grasses, and the guys were already hungrily eyeing a wild rabbit in the meadow.

Klaus followed Skye's gaze upward and a knit in his brow formed as he stared hard at the strange shape looming over the hilltop. It was decidedly unnatural and linear, and Klaus realized at the sound of the muffled gong that it was a clock tower. He looked at the silver-haired thief and found he was already scheming. The familiar grin curved his lips. "Where _are_ we indeed?"


	4. The Fourth Day Begins

Hey, thanks for the reviews! Glad ya'll think it's a hoot. I missed these guys. It's been awhile. Let's just jump right in, eh?

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 **The Fourth Day Begins**

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Skye awoke to the smell of the embers of the fire. He stretched his limbs as far as they would go, kicking Klaus in the head and waking him, too. It was nearly dawn. The world was dim and quiet but for the grasshoppers chirping in the reeds around them.

He silently got to his feet and took up the stick to stoke the bonfire. He prodded the coals among the bed of grey ashes, stirring them to smoke. The pine twigs he loaded on quickly became crumpled cinders, sending sparks twirling upwards as they burned.

He saw Rod across from him in the low light, sleeping with his mouth hanging limply open. He was hugging one of his bags with his knees curled around it. The space at his feet looked empty without Baron. Allen was quietly snoring with his face in the dirt and was the closest to the fire. He had always been a freeze baby. Klaus was on his back with his hands neatly folded on his stomach. He was suspiciously still. Probably awake yet from when Skye hit him, and he was still struggling to fall back asleep. And listening. Always.

Skye made his move. He took the band from around his wrist and tied back his hair. A few loose strands fell forward that couldn't be caught in the tiny tuft of a ponytail. He swept them back over his forehead and faced the wind. The early summer air was fragrant with flowers, hot dirt, and fresh leaves. It was a lovely morning.

Like the banishing of a shadow, he disappeared without a trace. Klaus opened one eye a slit. Drowsily, he propped himself up on his elbows and swiveled his head to look around. But Skye was long gone.

Adventuring out on his own, Skye liked to think he was scouting, being helpful. When in truth, it was an entirely selfish task. Curious as a cat, he buoying branches overhead, ran his hands through the twiggy brambles at his waist level. He loved to have the time to himself to be a little aimless, to go at his own pace. There was something about a forest that was so relaxing and cozy to him. He always felt safe in the woods. No one asking questions, no shifty looks, no wanted posters. _Just him and…_ He gracefully hopped over a creek and laid low. Something – or someone – was up and about, too.

He paused, frozen, like a deer in the meadow. Skye waited with bated breath as everything went quiet around him. Very carefully, he slinked his way to the grass and patiently kept his guard.

His interest piqued as a rustle caught his attention. A figure moved through the wood. They had been listening for Skye as well. The thief curiously raised his brows as he watched the silhouette hop over a log and make their way through the trees. Interesting indeed. Skye was going to pretend he hadn't seen that.

Skye made his way through the thin, younger trees at the edge of the forest. He could smell the sea. Though he didn't need to what with its height, he ducked under a large, fallen tree. It struck him as bizarre, since it bowed in an arch, and he couldn't quite make out where it began and ended in the dark brush. But his distracting thoughts melted with the sound of the crashing wake, and he was left on the outskirts of the wood, a wide open area ahead of him.

The beach was a short walk away from grassy fields, rising and falling with the hills of the landscape. They seemed uncannily deserted despite uniform dirt paths winding their way across the land like seams in a quilt. He whistled to himself and kept his hands in his pockets, ever the picture of a casual passerby – despite the utter lack of such a persona out in the middle of nowhere on his own. He liked to think he was sly.

The sun was but a red line on the horizon when he finally reached the rocky cliffs beside the water. His whistling paused for a moment as he tested his weight on the stone before he scaled it, climbing higher and higher with the salty, ocean breeze picking up with the altitude. Skye reached the top and brought his head up over the ledge for a peek.

Violet eyes widening, he took in the view with increasing excitement. A harbor town! And a truly breathtaking one at that. Seemed pretty up to date despite being in the middle of fuck nothing. How on _earth_ did these people get themselves set up on this abandoned shore? Because people there definitely were. Despite the early hour, he could clearly see them sweeping their porches and hanging out their laundry. Houses spotted the neatly cobbled streets – what looked to be all two of them. The village was tiny. It had the luxuries of lamp posts and fences, but it wouldn't be home to more than half a dozen families, if that. From his position high on the cliff, he rather felt like he was watching ants bustling around their hill. He brought himself up further to get a better look, confident that he was at a good angle out of sight since no one was screaming and pointing at him yet.

Skye's lilting, unsteady tune ended in a wolf whistle as his eyes landed on the pier. It was habit. Having heard it, the man who had been bending over some fishing net shot up and looked around him in confusion. Skye was quite safely hidden from his view, grinning and holding in his laughter at almost being foolishly caught snooping. The fisherman ran a hand through his short hair, giving the immediate area around him an awkward once over before he went back to untangling the net.

The thief watched as another man joined him down on the wharf. They began hauling their nets and baskets to their little dinghy. A lone lighthouse glowed pathetically yellow, like a dusty cough of what it should have been to light up the dawn. The silhouette of a church was high on a hill overlooking the vale, and there was the outline of the clock tower he had spied from the mountain road just over his shoulder. Skye realized he was more or less on top of the fisherman's shop from his vantage point on the cliff. His arms were getting tired balancing him on the precipice, and he decided he'd had enough of a looksee anyways. He quickly scaled back down to the ground, eager to tell the gang of his find. Besides, he just so happened to notice some unattended breakfast…

* * *

"I'm sure of it."

"Rod," Klaus said, his voice clearly telling of his tested patience.

Rod pointed down at it accusingly. "I know it! It's gotta be Baron's! He was _here!"_

"And? He's not here now, so… just leave it the hell alone," Klaus tutted like a disgusted mother.

"Come on, Rod, leave the dog shit alone and have some breakfast," Allen said, patting the empty spot in the grass next to him.

"But if he's definitely here… why isn't he coming when I call him?" Rod pouted, but he did as he was told. He stalked over and plopped down in a heap, slumping his shoulders. He finally had a clue to his missing dog, but no one seemed to care. He messily rubbed his sniffle nose on his sleeve.

Allen noticed the tears brimming his eyes, and he ruffled the orange mop atop his friend's head. "He'll come around. Eat something. I'll help you look for him later."

Rod forced a smile that became more genuine. He nodded his head in agreement. "Mmhm… thanks, Allen."

"Yeah, alright," Allen interjected, noticing Klaus watching him with a snide smirk. He wanted to say he wasn't _that_ heartless – Rod was his best friend since they were kids. Allen looked after him. But he also wouldn't admit he cared about anyone other than himself on a good day, so he would sooner tell Klaus and his knowing grin to stuff it.

Klaus was frowning again as he picked at the bare bones of the rabbit they had pretty thoroughly cleaned up the night before. He twisted the spit over the fire, hoping he'd get some flavor out of them. He pulled the collar of his coat closer around his neck, still feeling chilly since the sun hadn't quite gained its heat yet. He looked over his shoulder again.

"I can't tell what he's worried about more – the necklace or his boyfriend," Allen remarked, getting even for Klaus' stupid grinning earlier.

"Skye!" Rod guessed, clopping his boots together.

"Count me out. Don't even go that road with me, _life partners;_ you're the last ones to be telling anyone to be less homoerotic," Klaus stated flatly, not an ounce of remorse for his harshness nor a hint of a lie on his tongue as he continued with a stolid expression, stoking the fire. "Besides, the person who falls in love with a guy like Skye's gotta be a fucking idiot."

"Well… I'll give him that," Allen quietly forfeited his pride this round. Rod tried to lean his head on his shoulder, but Klaus' accusation had Allen ticked, so he defensively elbowed his friend in the solar plexus. Rod choked.

"Just… if he's gotten himself lost – or loses that necklace he keeps parading around with – I'm going to make him eat roots. We risked our lives stealing that thing, and he keeps winging it around and strutting like a peacock," Klaus shivered again, digging the heels of his boots into the dirt. "We're not safe! I swear, I won't sleep well until those jewels are off our hands for good. I loathe them."

Rod had regained his composure, and his stomach growled. He rubbed it pityingly. "Hrm… I'd eat a root. Oi, maybe Skye went hunting!"

Just as Klaus was about to scoff – _Skye? Useful practicality? HA_ \- Skye himself appeared over the dip in the hill to their campsite. Slung over his back was a string of fresh salmon. He dropped them at Klaus' feet. "Morning, ladies! Breakfast is served."

Allen and Rod didn't bother with greetings or even a comeback – they each grabbed a fish and skillfully began gutting and scaling them to get them over the fire. Rather than be grateful, Klaus took up the last two fish on the string, holding them up for Skye to explain. "What the hell, wild man? Did you catch these with your bare hands?"

"You could say that," Skye grinned. His hair was loose once again, the band back around his wrist. He rubbed the back of his stiff neck, rolling his shoulder as he squatted down and looked into the fire. "If we play our cards right, there can be more where that came from, too."

"Where'd you go?" Allen asked, getting the stick and tossing the rabbit's remains. He strung his fish, and Rod held up his own to put up alongside it, pushing it into Allen's forearm to get his attention. Allen helped him out by skewering his fish and put both over the flames. At the prospect of food, Allen was much more agreeable.

Skye picked a wad of grass up in his fist. It tore from the dirt with a satisfying rip of the soil. "I went to town."

"It wasn't abandoned?!" Rod asked, baffled at the thought. "But… we're off the map! That means it's an undiscovered territory! People outside of the kingdom, outside of our knowledge! Can you imagine?!"

"It's not entirely unheard of. People can live without kings and queens, you know," Allen chided with a chip in his shoulder.

"Not some peasant village, I'll give 'em that. They had lamp posts and everything," Skye provided.

"But what kinds of things do they know? If they're all of the way out here, it's possible they're totally isolated. What have they missed from the developed world? What do they know that we may not? What kind of culture is it? Don't you think that's fascinating?" Rod goaded in excitement. It was a rare opportunity to hear him so enthused about something that wasn't his next meal.

"Maybe they're cannibals," Allen darkly suggested, cocking an eyebrow at Klaus. Klaus pretended the idea didn't horrify him, but under the surface, his paranoia was bubbling with worst case scenarios.

Rod shivered, hugging his arms. He was also susceptible to panic. "Eugh, or some kind of cult? What if they eat dogs?! What if they've got Baron!?"

Klaus shook his head to get them back on track. "Look, they're not a cannibal cult – Skye said it himself; they're civilized—"

"Laundry on the line and everything," Skye nodded with a humorous hum at their deliberations.

"Town means people. People means horses, carriages, boats. We get any one of those, and we can be back on track for the rendezvous!" Klaus counted the options on his fingers, his face brightening considerably at the prospects.

Skye rolled his eyes in genuine exasperation, dropping the grass into the fire. "Will you _forget_ the old plan? Why do you always have to have an itinerary? Be a little spontaneous – take what life gives you. Eat a fish."

"Hey!" Klaus narrowly dodged the salmon flung to him. He moodily took the knife from Allen and started cutting it up, grumbling as he did so and still stubbornly clinging to the idea of Plan A. He couldn't help it; he liked the security of a set goal. Skye was hard to work with that way; always bouncing around, never going to the same place twice, forgetting his ideas mere minutes after sharing them for the next newest thing. What with their hectic lifestyle, Klaus couldn't help but look for a routine anywhere he could get it. "I just… We need to keep focused."

"So what's the plan then? Just scope it out?" Allen poked the fish with his finger, hoping the filet would cook faster. Sashimi was sounding better by the minute.

"Exactly," Skye kicked back, propping one foot over the other. "We're four perfectly normal travellers just passing through. We lost our horses in the woods, and we're looking to get back on our feet. Simple as that."

"I don't like the idea of a town in these parts. What kind of people live all of the way out here? It's dangerous being out of the Queen's territory, so we can't be too lax," Klaus rightly cautioned with the reminder, absent-mindedly stroking the stubble on his jaw.

"And it's perfectly safe _in_ the Queen's territory? Did you forget our luggage?" Skye took the necklace from his pocket and dangled it on his finger. It glittered in the sunrise washing over them. He twirled it once around before losing it in his sleeves, showing his hands were free of it. Rod devotedly gave him the satisfaction of a round of applause for his sleight of hand. "From how I see it, we just struck gold. We couldn't be luckier if we _tried_."

"Alright, alright – but I'll do the talking," Klaus gave him a suspicious side-eye. He finally got the spit to himself as Allen and Rod juggled their searing hot fish. "You always lay it on too thick; they'll smell us out a mile away."

"What! But I…! I'll have you know I'm a people person. I'm trustworthy," Skye looked legitimately hurt at the insinuation that he was a bad actor, and Allen snorted back a laugh. Rod wisely kept out of it and merely smiled at his meal.

"Yeah, about as smooth as a fox in a chicken coop. Come off it – you'll ham it up and make us twice as suspicious. Keep to the background on this one," Klaus ordered. He used his mom voice, so it was the end of the discussion.

Skye sourly took up another handful of grass and immaturely scattered it over Klaus' crisping fish on the fire. "Fine. As you wish."

"You're such a child," Klaus admonished, picking the blades off of his food with an annoyed frown of his own.

Skye got up and waved a hand over his shoulder to dismiss him. "It was _garnish_."

Allen turned to Rod, not bothering to keep his voice down. "Heh, and he was laughing at _us_. Ow!"

Innocently minding his own business like he hadn't just rudely punched him in the shoulder, nearly knocking the glasses from Allen's nose, Klaus made up his mind that they'd wait until it was closer to noon to visit the town. He wanted to make sure they looked as innocent as possible. For a band of thieves.

* * *

Under Klaus' instruction, with Skye's begrudging cooperation, the guys prepared to present themselves after the days they spent wilderness worn. They tucked in their shirts, parted their hair (Rod tried), and got their packs together. With a little rehearsing, they knew what their backstory was for stumbling across this foreign place, but they weren't too concerned with the details. Their mission was to get in and get out - at Klaus' insistence. They couldn't be memorable, much less cause a scene. It could be deadly, what with them being the most wanted men in the kingdom. So they'd take their sight-seeing elsewhere. And they were all perfectly fine with that plan.

They followed Skye's route he used to get out of the woods that morning, following one after the other in a line to get through the briars. Every now and again, Rod would whistle for Baron, but he was only met with the sounds of the birds in the underbrush. No bulldog in sight.

"It's just up that path," Skye said, beckoning with his chin at the road winding around the cliff. He was short with them to show he was still mad at being cowed into a corner, but it was a blessing in disguise – everyone else was pretty much glad to hear less from him, which was something he was totally oblivious to.

Klaus took a deep breath. He had never quite got the hang of it over the years. Acting the part. He was a notoriously bad liar, but since he was the most earnest of the group, he did a better job of getting people to trust him than he thought. He calmed himself with the idea that all of his preparation would be worthless, and they'd be mercifully unnoticed. "Low-key. No big entrance. Remain invisible."

"That'd work better if you'd _shut the hell up_ ," Allen muttered low, all but giving him an obvious jab for subtlety with his elbow.

"It's okay, Klaus! They'll love you!" Rod chuckled and slapped him on the back for encouragement.

Klaus rolled his shoulder away from him, his voice raising a little too loud. "I don't _want_ anyone to love me! I want to be ignored!"

They had just rounded the bend. Their feet were on the smooth, slick stone before the pier where the fishermen had been loading their boat that morning. A suspiciously empty apparatus where fish would hang was just beside them. Klaus was busy fighting off Rod who was trying to poke his face into smiling, Allen had Rod by the collar to keep him from lunging, and Skye stood quietly by for a change, picking his teeth with his nail. Nobody had apologized to him yet, so he was getting even grumpier at being ignored. But all four slowly realized they were being watched and roved their eyes over to see a startled fisherman frozen to the spot. Skye recognized him as the nice ass from that morning.

"Er…" Klaus shoved Rod off of him, and they fell quickly into line. He straightened his shirt, wondering if they spoke the Queen's English around these parts. He gave a polite, little wave. "Hello!"

The boy dropped the fishing pole in his hand with a clatter, his mouth hanging agape at the sight of them. The atmosphere became drastically more awkward, but no one had the opportunity to remedy it. Out from the nearest shop came an old man in a clean, dressy shirt and thick soled boots to unwittingly interrupt their encounter. "What ya doin' there, boy? You're gonna catch flies if… ya…"

The man dropped his pipe when he spotted the gang. He, too, was staring at them with jaw slackened, eyes wide – like the guys were all horrific monsters. Or celebrities. Both of which tended to garner similar reactions from mobs of people.

Allen sharply elbowed him in the back to prompt him, and Klaus cleared his throat and took a step forward. Well, at least there wouldn't be an issue with a language barrier. "Uh, if we may ask as to the whereabouts of an inn, we'd be very grate—"

He was interrupted midsentence when the old man gave the boy a shove, shaking him out of his stupor. "It's them! They've finally come! Quick, boy, get the mayor!"

"Uh…!" Klaus immediately looked to Skye, his own eyes wide. Each guilty thief waited with bated breath – did these people know who they were? It seemed implausible, but from their reactions… likely? What were their options now?

Skye's fingers were inching towards one of the pistols tucked behind his back, trying to make up his mind and gauge the threat. The boy did as he was told and ran back towards the fishery, losing his balance in his haste and kicking air. He threw himself against the door and pounded on it, calling for his uncle, before he took off down the road like a crier towards town with the news.

Klaus turned to Skye, visibly saddened. Skye simply gave him an almost imperceptible nod. The fingers around his pistol tightened. Allen caught their exchange and was pulling the hidden knife from his sleeve. Rod fidgeted, antsy without arrows for his bow.

Just as they were about to act, the old man shocked them all when he threw himself to the ground at their feet. In surrender? He was… bowing. Groveling, really. The boys exchanged looks of shared bafflement. This was an unexpectedly _strange_ turn of events.

Prostrate with his arms held forward, the old man humbly bowed his head a few more times before crawling forward on his knees. Klaus jumped back, severely creeped out, but he ran into Rod behind him and had nowhere to go as the old sailor grabbed the cuff of his waistcoat, looking up at him in adoration. "You've come…! As the legends foretold! I never thought I'd get to see you in my lifetime; bless you! Bless you!"

"L-let's take a step back for a moment - please!" Klaus blurted, brushing him off and dodging as the man tried to kiss his shoes.

"The hell is in the water around here?" Allen whispered. Rod spritely shrugged to him in reply, quite at a loss but also finding the humor in it. He struggled to hold in his giggles as the old man treated them, known criminals, as if they were gods.

"Pascal! What's the racket out here? Toby lost his key again?" Yet another man kicked the door open to the nearby shop, a basket loaded with fish on a dolly being pulled behind him. As he exited the place backwards, it took him a moment to get his load around and set out by the door to tempt passersby with the fresh tuna before he could see the commotion. He finally looked over his shoulder and glared. He spotted his friend on the ground with four silhouettes of strangers above him. "Hey!"

Even though the newcomer appeared violent, it was a welcome grace to garner a normal reaction to seeing them. The man came in swinging the paddle of a broken oar. Skye and Allen were more than ready to pounce, but the old sailor, now with the name Pascal, lunged to block him. "Ozzie! Ozzie, stop! Can't you see?! It's the four! They've come at last!"

Ozzie stopped short, a look of disbelief on his features. He was wrinkled and tanned from spending a life under the sun off the ocean with a look of perpetual doubt on his face. His frown quivered skeptically, and he shook his head. "…them?"

"Just as the prophecy said! The four heroes!" Pascal swept his arm out to them, showcasing his proof. Ozzie, too, took on a look of awe and backed away.

"F-forgive me!" Ozzie's grip slackened, the oar clattering to the ground, and he looked genuinely fearful.

Allen rolled his eyes, grumbling. He waved his knife around in exasperation. "Great, now another loon!"

Skye smoothly stomped on his foot, hard, causing the red head to nearly lose balance and curse aloud. Though Skye never said a word, his actions alone reminded them of the most important rule: go with the flow. He wove around Klaus to address them. "Yes, we're… here at last! Take us to your leader!"

Rod sputtered into laughter and got stifled by his mates. Ozzie looked quite lost and still doubtful, but he followed Pascal's lead and dipped his head to bow in respect to them.

"There! See? It's the heroes!" New voices over the hill were filtering down to them. Soon, one person right after the other had spotted them and was pointing their way. They ran, holding their hats and lifting their skirts, to greet those on the pier. Men, women, and children of the tiny village were gathering around them in a veritable hoard, all 'oohing' and 'aahing' and making a fuss. The boys tried to keep their distance, but all reverence went out the window as the community invaded their personal space, poking and prodding them.

"They sure are a colorful bunch, aren't they?" One man stroked his chin, eyeing Rod's bright hair while another brought him into a stifling bear hug. Rod laughed happily for their warm welcome.

A woman lifted up Klaus' arm, shamelessly feeling his bicep as he turned beet red. "Wow! Strong, too! Just like the stories say!"

"This must be one of the girly ones!" A little girl tugged on Allen's arm with all of her weight, jerking him forward.

"I'm plenty strong!" Allen snapped in retort. Sure, he wasn't as… _toned_ as Klaus or Skye, but he could hold his own. He didn't take kindly to her insult of his slighter frame and shook her loose, only to have a little boy leap onto his back. "Will you get off of me?!"

"Aw, I didn't know you were good with kids!" Rod teased, chuckling as the girl grabbed a lock of Allen's hair and painfully pulled. A strong man clapped Rod hard on the back in welcome, making the boy nearly choke on his own spit.

"I could get used to this," Skye mused, the only one to bask in the glow of such attention. He ran his finger along the soft jawline of a blonde who giggled in reaction to his touch. She looked to her petite friend at her side, both come to see these prophesized heroes and finding them just as handsome as they had dared to dream.

"Are you _ever_ fazed?" Klaus griped, holding his coat fast with his arms wrapped about his person as the village women continued to inspect him from all manner of embarrassing angles.

"Make way for the mayor!" A voice called. No one parted, but their shoulders shifted somewhat as someone quite small made their way between.

"What's all this?" The crowd quieted for an unseen figure, calling out above the noise and chatter of the brouhaha. A stout man of authority entered their tight ring. Those who brought him along and could give him an explanation were left on the outskirts of the crowd. The little man glared up at them, taking Klaus to be their leader since he was closest and tallest. "Who are you lot? Where did you come from?"

Put on the spot, Klaus was desperately trying to recall his lines, but he was suffering from terrible stage fright. Skye took the forefront and gallantly shook the mayor's hand, his hammy smirk of a con artist quite evident on his face. "We're from the other side of the mountain."

His face was skeptical and rigid for a few unnerving seconds. Then, startling them all and giving Klaus quite the physical jump scare, the mayor erupted into booming laughter. He happily applauded until all of the people around him were clapping along with him to create a roar of praise. More to his people than to the thieves, he held up his arms and announced: "The heroes have arrived! Our town is saved!"

"F-father!" A muffled voice of reason was immediately tuned out before it could be heard. Elbowing his way to the front, a scrawny kid huffed and swept back his tousled hair once he escaped the crowd. "You're jumping to conclusions! No one said anything about heroes - they could literally be _anyone!_ Travellers, merchants… pirates – thieves! _"_

Klaus almost wanted to vouch for him that he'd hit the nail on the head with the latter. Luckily, the mayor completely ignored his son as if he was one of the many cheering in his favor around him. He took Skye by the arm, leading him away as the people cleared a path. Klaus, fearing being left behind with the village mother hens, grabbed at the back of Skye's shirt like a lifeline. Allen gratefully wrangled himself free of the children bullying him and did the same by grabbing onto Klaus' coattails, and Rod brought up the rear, giving one of the kids a pat on the head and ruffling his hair in passing.

"You will stay in the finest rooms we have! There shall be celebrations in your honor! Tonight – we feast!" The mayor said the latter in his announcer voice, garnering more raucous cheer from his village. The people howled in approval. He spun back around and shook Skye's hand with both of his own. "My name's Hamilton, by the way; it's such an honor."

"Who's paying for this?!" The mayor's son all but slapped his forehead in horror at what he was witnessing. His rage was quite evident at going completely blindsided, and he was pulling at his hair. Skye was watching him out of the corner of his eye in amusement. "Need I remind you of our very limited budget? Did you forget the drought? The current famine? That earthquake last Tuesday – no? Nothing!? Am I talking to the wind?!"

The mayor finally acknowledged his son with a demeaning scoff at his bellyaching. "Please, Gill, the heroes are here! They're going to fix all of that, son; we don't have to worry about things anymore. Isn't that right?"

"Oh, quite!" Skye nodded in agreement at the cue.

"You heard the man!" A man whooped in joy.

"He said it himself! It's really the heroes!" A woman called.

"We're saved!"

"He's just saying what you want to hear!" His voice cracked on the last decibel as his temper outreached the capability of his vocal chords.

A great uproar erupted from the crowd, everyone cheering and yelling that completely drowned out Gill. People were already volunteering dishes they'd bring and instruments to play for the feast that night. There was so much planning and cooking to do. It wasn't but a moment that the excitement dribbled down as the people got to work to make it all happen, leaving the pier quite empty but for the gulls.

"There's so much for you to see!" Hamilton was saying, leading the way into town. The strangers and his son trailed after him at varying degrees of discomfort but for Skye who was smiling and nodding at everything the mayor was saying. Having an agreeable personality only prompted Hamilton to smile wider and put a skip in his step. "Come along, boys; there's much to do before the feast!"

"I always knew this was going to happen…" the mayor's blond son bemoaned with a heavy, tired sigh. Klaus looked at him, but Gill sent a spitting mad glare of hatred the band's way, forced to shadow his father as he went on and on with party plans. Gill would be doing most of the work for it anyways. He crossed his arms and turned away, still muttering to himself. "Bloody fucking quilt nonsense…"

Allen and Klaus both exchanged a glance – acknowledging that the kid had a death wish for them. But… a party sounded awfully nice. And free of charge, considering it was in their honor. Perhaps a night with a brat staring them down was worth the risk? Skye certainly seemed to think so, laughing with the mayor up ahead. Their trust in their leader was about to face the ultimate test here in this bizarre misadventure they found themselves in. Really, what _was_ this place so immediate to welcome strangers? What was Skye getting them into?

Risky as it was, the band had little choice but to play along. But Klaus couldn't help but feel a pit opening in his stomach at the idea. What was more dangerous? Outing themselves as wanted men or playing god to desperate people?


	5. The Fourth Day Ends

Second update today! I'm almost at the point I wanted to be when I started. Just so happens to be next chapter. Do you ever write whole stories for certain scenes? That initial inspiration of an idea. It's one of those. So I'm stupid excited for the next update. Be back soon!

Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **The Fourth Day Ends**

* * *

After being fawned over and generally praised for a good few hours, the guys were quite put out and ready to party. Even Allen was stifling his yawning after the forty-fifth 'bless your hearts.' The only one basking in the glow of unfounded compliments was none other than Skye, but that should come as no surprise since the boys had suspected that he fed off of his own swelling ego for sustenance for quite some time.

They had traipsed up the hill and into a cozy office akin to a merchant's with maps on the walls and shelves and shelves of musty books. It was offhandedly explained that their library and government office were one building as they gathered to discuss the situation around a table. Gill poured them tea, and they half-wondered if the boy had spit in the pot out of malice. The mayor said their village was 'economical,' but the state of repair of the room around them or lack thereof and the watery, tasteless tea made it quite evident these people were on hard times. Klaus felt even more sick at the prospect of them giving up their precious few resources for a frivolous party on their account. He pushed his teacup away.

Most of the mayor's gibberish went right over their heads. He rambled about some quilt and a tree and the elements; Klaus figured they were some sort of cult and was highly uncomfortable. Allen was thinking the women weren't half bad looking, but that was about all this town had to offer. Skye had a rather shocking wide-eyed interest in all that the little mayor had to tell. Rod was all but taking notes like a secretary at his side, excited to learn something no one else on the outside could.

"Have you always been cut off? We can't be the first people to—" Rod was stifled by Skye talking over him.

"He means it took us a long time to find our way here," Skye said to make their appearance sound planned. By this time, Klaus was giving him a similar glare to Gill's. What was he trying to pull? "If only we could've gotten here sooner."

Hamilton sympathized with a grieved nod. "Yes, but… you're here _now._ That's what matters. I know Waffle Town has become sheltered over the generations, and we see less merchants by sea with every passing year, but we always believed you'd—"

"Did you just say waffle?" Allen cut in, finally opting to speak up after spending the better part of their scheme on the observing end. He wasn't necessarily against what Skye was doing, but there was only so much bullshit he could handle at a given sitting. "Your town is 'waffle?'"

"Why, yes!" Hamilton happily reported. "You've arrived! I still can't believe I've been given the supreme honor of having the office of mayor when the fabled Heroes of Waffle appeared."

Tea flew out of Rod's nose.

"And that's perfectly _fine,"_ Skye sent a warning look to the boy as he struggled to clean up his dribbling. Klaus pat Rod on the back as he regained his bearings, and Gill grumpily wiped up the spilled tea. Skye smiled back to Hamilton. "We're here to do what we can. Where are our lodgings?"

"Oh! Yes, of course!" Hamilton leapt to his feet, looking flustered with so much on his mind. He had forgotten. "Your journey has been long; you must need rest. We want you to enjoy the feast we've prepare in your honor after all!"

If he said 'honor' again, Klaus was going to scream in the stuffy, quiet office. Skye had been right after all. There really was no honor in thieves. Here he was steaming, but he wouldn't say a word. He hated it, but he wouldn't betray his friends. So he watched them pull the wool over these innocent peoples' eyes. For whatever reason, these people had faith that their band matched their religious prophecy, and they were taking full advantage of that. There was no honor left in him. He was ashamed.

The mayor ushered them out with promises of showing them to the sacred spots at a later date. Half the boys crossed their fingers that day wouldn't come. The afternoon was winding down, and the sunset cast orange rays across the village's cobblestone square. Villagers had indiscreetly waited outside of the town hall to catch glimpses of the so-called heroes, and the boys received smiles and waves once again from those loitering in wait for them to reappear.

"Tonight, you shall be treated as kings!" Hamilton promised, shaking Klaus' hands this time in both of his own with great gusto. "Our humble village will stop at nothing to leave you impressed."

"Yes, well… that's… good?" Klaus ventured uneasily, coming up short on faux sincerity. He looked to Skye for direction, but he was being ignored. Klaus was still worried about the mayor's son who was glaring at them suspiciously every few moments, putting him on edge.

Hamilton went down the line to shake each man's hand in turn. He released Skye's arm and looked over his shoulder at the villagers who were already littering the square with tables and party prep. They were lacking direction, so there was plenty for the mayor to do in the meanwhile. He very generously offered: "I'm afraid that we are underprepared, and your rooms are not yet available. However, if you'd like to freshen up from your travels, my home is open for you."

"PRAISES," Allen gratefully accepted for them all. He hadn't seen a comb in far too long.

Rod ruffled his taller friend's hair, getting swatted away. "Hehe, Allen's grumpy without soap!"

"It's because _you_ reek without it," he retorted.

"I suppose that would be nice…" Klaus surrendered in agreement. They couldn't afford to get sick with the long road ahead of them.

"And the feast?" Skye prompted, hoping it would lead to a discussion for the types of food that would be present. Starving or no, he was a rather picky eater.

Alas, his segue was ineffective. Hamilton clapped his hands together with decision. "Yes, of course! By the time you return, we will all be ready for you! Come, Gill, make nice. Show the heroes to our house, so they may prepare for their welcome!"

"I heard you; I was standing right here…" Gill grumbled, the surly boy rolling his eyes. He kept his gaze low, his entire demeanor now dismissive and completely different from the evident panic he had upon meeting them. Perhaps his head had cooled to the situation over the hours, but Klaus was still on high alert. There was something about him he just didn't trust. The boy beckoned his head and sounded almost professional in his address. "Follow me, please."

Allen and Rod immediately fell into step behind the kid. Allen poked at the cowlick atop Gill's head and was quickly flicked away in annoyance. Klaus, more ready for a nap than anything, rolled his shoulders and turned to Skye. But the space was empty where he had been.

He spun around and found his friend off to the side of the road by some browning hedges with a pair of women. Klaus rolled his eyes. "Typical."

Klaus fell out of step with their friends and met up with Skye, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey. Don't wander off."

"I'm not wandering anywhere – just doing some sightseeing. Look at these shimmering blossoms; I can't say no to maidens so exquisite! They have stars in their eyes," Skye remarked with that manipulatively charming tone he played so well. The girls giggled at his theatrics. Klaus half-wondered if they were taking him seriously or if they just found his saccharine melodrama comical.

Still, Klaus did as he was told and accidentally made eye contact with one of the women. Her deep, honest gaze immediately made him feel another nauseating stab of guilt as well as a little bashful, so he shook his head and looked over his shoulder towards the stairs where the others disappeared. "W-we ought to catch up; come on, you can be a bother later."

"I'll have you know these lovely creatures pulled _me_ aside, thank you," he defended himself, his tone falling a little flatter as he pursed his lips in a whine.

"We're so sorry to trouble you!" The girl with short brown hair apologized, bowing her head to them. She held her hands together in pleading, looking back up at Klaus hopefully. "Please do not misunderstand – we're not looking to win your favor for our own selfish gain. We only wish to please the Four!"

"Er, no, o-of course not…" Klaus found himself stuttering again at her display of reverence, his face heating up further. He didn't notice Skye smirking at him.

"My name is Anissa, and this is Renee," the other girl with the honest eyes spoke up, stepping past her friend who was much too nervous to go on. She parted a lock of glossy hair behind her ear after making her own little bow of greeting. "We're to prepare the table for the heroes, and we wanted to inquire as to your preferred foods?"

"O…oh…" annoyed with himself, Klaus coughed into his hand to clear his throat. "Yes, well… thank you. That's very kind."

"We only wish to do our part in showing our gratitude," Anissa bowed her head again. Renee mimicked her more cool-headed friend and dipped her head as well.

"I'm sure anything you make will be more than satisfactory," Klaus said, scratching his jawline and winding his hand up nervously behind his neck.

"But he hates shrimp," Skye stuck his thumb at his friend. It was his turn to do the dragging, and he took Klaus by the collar to yank him away. He sent a little wave to the girls. "We'll see you tonight, my doves. We'll be looking forward to it!"

Anissa's face colored at that, and she quickly looked away biting her lip. Renee waved back and turned to her friend too soon as they were just leaving earshot, squealing at her and giggling over their encounter with the pair. The boys caught just a snip as she gushed: "He's _way_ dreamier than I—!"

Klaus let out a long sigh, making quick strides across the square and taking the steps at a brisk rhythm, straightening his cuffs that didn't need straightening. "You hear that? You're already quite popular again."

"Hm," Skye hummed at his side, hands in his pockets and a carefree smile on his lips.

His face returning to its usual pallor with every step away, Klaus was sounding more confident again as well. "You'd best be careful before the husbands start getting mad."

"You'll have my back when that happens," Skye shrugged. His eyes followed the two lonely streets, and he decided to head towards the tallest home on the lane.

Klaus caught that late, stopping short. He saw he was left behind and jogged to keep up with Skye. "Hey! Don't say that like it's inevitable!"

Skye chose correctly, and they found Gill waiting with his arms crossed outside the first door. His foot was tapping the stoop in short temper. A few birds were spooked at their arrival and fled the alcove on their right.

"You take too much for granted. Perhaps I _should_ let one of these husbands catch you square on the nose. Teach you a lesson. You'd appreciate me more," Klaus was scolding him all the while, but Skye only tuned in at the end. He was soon to tune him back out as they approached the mayor's son.

"The others are inside. You will find all of the necessary amenities at your disposal," Gill dictated, standing just enough out of the way so that they could pass through into his home, but they'd still have to get uncomfortably close to his scrutinizing glare to do so.

Klaus practically fled past him, glad to find Rod and Allen again. He got anxious being separated in this strange place. Skye lingered at the door in front of the young man, finding a new toy to play with. Skye wasn't stupid – he knew full well when someone saw past his lies. Besides, Skye was barely trying; he could hardly blame the kid for hating him. Yet he wasn't fighting anymore. He cocked his head comically to the side. "Your name was… Gill?"

He went unmoved, unchanging. "Your memory is in working order."

"You don't like us very much," Skye guessed, his expression sparking bemused.

"Quite the understatement," Gill affirmed, still glowering. But his foot had eased its tapping.

Skye made a sound of interest. His fingers drummed along his chin. He looked back where his crew disappeared, noting the lavish, antique furniture and absent-mindedly appraising the value of half the room at a glance. "Yet you let us into your home?"

Gill began to look more exasperated than angry. He swallowed his annoyance. He wasn't going to let this jerk get to him. "I follow orders."

His eyes lit up with mischief at that. "Oh? That's quite a bold thing to reveal to someone you've just met."

The mayor's son gave him a more genuinely baffled expression, the stoic façade cracking ever so slightly. What was _with_ this guy? Some kind of perverted psycho? Nonetheless, Gill found himself continuing his interrogation game. His temper was quickly getting the better of him. "You're mistaken – I take orders from the mayor, not _you_."

Skye didn't miss a beat, his eyes skipping to the floor and quickly back up. "Did he order you to wear those shoes like that?"

Gill looked down at his brown buckled loafers and black high socks. He looked back up at Skye, aghast. "I…! Wha?"

Skye sadly shook his head. "Father still dressing you? Tsk, tsk. You look like a schoolboy. How old are you anyways, kid?"

"I am _not_ a child!" Gill grabbed Skye's wrist just as he was about to make to pat him on the head, snatching it in a surprisingly iron grip just over his hair.

"But you dodged the question," Skye accused curiously, letting his hand go limp in Gill's grasp.

There was this strange, disarming ability that this con artist had – and a fraud he was, he had no doubt – that Gill couldn't fathom to explain. He almost felt that he himself was in the wrong for raising his voice, and he needed to apologize. There was this placid innocence that was alongside the smarmy smile that he so desperately wanted to _strangle._ Gill was positive he'd never seen someone so infuriating and contradictory in all his life. He gathered his wits enough to bite back at him defensively. "I don't have to explain myself to you!"

Skye's grin widened in teasing. _There it was again!_ That look that sparked Gill's killer instinct like nothing else – not since that carpenter's stupid, oblivious grin anyways. But this guy's was much worse. It was calculated in its overconfidence. "You need to respect your elders."

"Skye!" Glorious reprieve came from within the house. In the hall was the dark haired tall stranger, the one who kept giving Gill his distrusting glares right back at him. He had his arms crossed like a tired mother catching her child misbehaving.

Skye answered in a similar fashion to the analogy, his voice too blameless to be believed. "Yes~?"

Klaus signaled him over. "Stop pissing him off."

"Coming~" he acquiesced without further argument. Skye bopped Gill on the nose with his finger and welcomed himself into his home, looking at the ceilings and walls like it was a big spectacle to see.

Gill angrily huffed and slammed the door. He'd watch these jokers like a hawk. He could easily see them making off with his grandmother's silver if his back was turned. He'd love to snuff them out at the first opportunity. He straightened his bolo and caught his tall socks out of his peripheral, remembering the schoolboy comment. Seething to himself once again, he power walked back to the square to prep for the feast they didn't deserve. _Dirty, rotten… thieves!_

* * *

Gill returned after their baths and delivered the group to the square that night with little ceremony. He made his distance as best he could, but he was still forced to sit next to his father at the heroes' right hand. The guys were set at the forefront of a great circle on pillows for seats with low tables, and a bonfire was constructed in the center to light the summer night in warm oranges, reds, and yellows.

As the festivities began, Hamilton opened with a great speech that further confused the boys rather than gave them answers. He stood in his address. "All these years as it was foretold, arriving in our most dire need. I am so incredibly honored to be your mayor during this blessed time. We gratefully open our hands, our hearts, and our—"

"—legs," Allen whispered with a wink, getting a sharp elbow from Klaus. Rod still snickered immaturely, safe on the other side of the red head away from Klaus' punishment.

"—homes to these brave heroes! May the prophecy live!" The mayor held aloft his cup of wine.

"May the prophecy live!" The villagers echoed with their own cups and sipped in veneration. The thieves awkwardly took up their cups late and took sloppy gulps to compensate. Rod caught his down the wrong pipe and started coughing, now wishing Klaus could hit him after all. He rubbed his messy chin, bemoaning his rotten luck with beverages twice in one day, and met eyes with a group of children giggling at him. He smiled back.

"The festival of their welcome will soon begin! Tonight, we partake in celebrating the day of their arrival. May we mark this as a holiday for many years to come!"

The villagers applauded him, and a select few rose. They went about to collect the food stuff that had been scavenged for the feast, and a lone villager moved to stand before the fire before the four. He held up a paper. "A poem! For the heroes!"

Quite jarred, the boys looked between one another. A what? A… _why?_ They could only stare on in silent horror as the man prattled off in tedious iambs his droning verse, praying each line to come would be the merciful last. The food came around, and Klaus was well aware of the girl setting his plate before him, her glossy long hair now pinned back in intricate braids woven with flowers behind her head. Her smiling, honest eyes met his, and she bowed as she departed, making Klaus feel even worse again about their deceit.

But they began to notice something off. The man's poem, though painful to listen to, was of dying winds and stagnant seas. Cold nights and tasteless bounty. The meal that was put before them was meager and bland; the bread was dry, the meat was chewy, and the vegetables were bitter. They were hungry and ate, but it was not quite the feast of celebration they were expecting.

Rod openly gnawed on the meat that was given him, trying to tear it between his fork and his teeth. Allen pushed away the carrots on his plate, cutting the pieces smaller and smaller, and Klaus forced himself to swallow politely what was given to him. Skye nonchalantly ignored his plate for the most part, focusing instead on the mayor's son who had his gaze on the clenched fists in his lap. His face as an easy read - he was embarrassed and outright pained.

After the poem finished, there was a great cheer of appreciation, and the boys clapped in lackluster comparison to the people. Hamilton had them strike up the band, and the party finally started to feel like an actual celebration. There was no dimming the spritely fiddle or the pounding drum, and the villagers all began to dance. Young and old alike moved around the flickering flames of the fire, singing an old folk song.

Girls with leis of local flowers approached the heroes and danced something interpretive, a story of a Harvest Goddess and her home on the earth. Klaus was hardly following the plot since the girl he got in front of him was _of course_ the raven-haired Anissa. He couldn't help but feel she was the best dancer as well, gracefully twisting her body and flowing with the music for the tale. She moved towards him suddenly, and Klaus found himself trying to reflexively back away with nowhere to go. He dumbly caught himself with his palm on the ground behind him as she set the ring of flowers over his head and about his neck. Easy as a nymph, she finished her enchanting dance with the other girls, and they received additional praise – Klaus more enthusiastic this time, finding his clapping awkwardly slow down to meet the speed of his friends applauding around him in an effort to keep him from looking overeager. He got side eyes. Too late.

"Come dance with us, hero!" A familiar girl with short blonde hair was before Skye, holding out her hands to him in offering.

Skye had accepted her lei, but he shrugged dismissively. Yet his charm remained in his rejection. "Alas, beautiful girl, I do not dance. But _he_ loves to."

Klaus was horrified to find himself thrown under the bus and unable to protest as he was pulled to his feet, and he clumsily stepped over the table. Rod brightly followed the example as he too was led by the hands by a pretty village girl, leaping over his plate towards the fire circle. But Allen was also too cool to dance, and he waved off the woman who came to collect him, opting to stay with Skye and the bitter carrots.

"I'm Maya – what's your name?"

Klaus had gotten used to ignoring this particular question over the years he'd spent with Skye. He simply pretended not to hear her. "I'm afraid I am not a dancer, Maya – you've been fooled."

"Nonsense!" She chided with a little giggle of delight, seemingly not suspicious to miss his name. "I'm sure you're grand; just give it a try."

"Er, no, I really cannot—" He looked sideways enviously at Rod who had no trouble learning the steps the villagers were doing with ease. Brat was good enough he looked practiced. _Cheating, high society asshole_ …

"Then we'll just have to do the work for him, won't we?" Another voice cut in. Klaus rued that it was Anissa, finding himself mute in her presence. She was bold and her tone was suggestive. Maya was put out that she cut in, but it was clear she wasn't having any luck with him. She went to dance with her friends in the circle, hoping she'd gain one of the other heroes' favor.

True to promise, Anissa allowed Klaus to remain standing in place, but the way she moved around him made him look like the life of the party. She was lithe and elegant and always a hair's breadth away. He wanted nothing more than to hide his face in his hands, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her in the firelight. But mostly, he loved and hated Skye with every fiber of his being for getting him into this madness while he sat safe on the sidelines.

"Your friend appears nervous. I hope the feast is to his liking?" Hamilton asked, beckoning to the stony-faced Klaus.

"He's having the time of his life, I assure you," Skye replied with a lewd smile. Due to Klaus' closed off, worrywart nature, he never got any action with women. This dance was long overdue.

Hamilton twiddled his fingers, looking between Skye and the fire. The thief almost thought he was going to ask him to dance – but Hamilton finally sighed in content. His eyes were misty. Skye was surprised. The mayor apologized, gazing at the flickering flames as the silhouettes flashed in the night over them. "My apologies… I just… I never thought this day would come."

Skye was a man of little remorse. He had been beaten and hated. Scraped by and clawed his way to survive. Starved. Abused. He learned to take what he could get when it was available to him. And this village was ripe for the picking. They were too vulnerable and foolishly generous. But Skye wasn't altogether heartless. Not yet. His eyes caught Gill's on the other side of the mayor, and the blond looked away from him. It was really too easy. They handed it to him on a silver platter. But it was one of those rare times that Skye hesitated.

A keg was rolled out, and his thoughts of potential guilt drifted off in the night breeze. There was one thing the village was still plentiful in – booze. Potent whiskey made from their fields of wheat and barley sloshed between the villagers in wooden cups that smelled strongly of the fermented drink, infused with the liquor to the grain. Allen could hold his alcohol, but he was soon out by the fire with the rest of them. Klaus' head was pounding even worse, and Rod stumbled as he laughed. Skye was hyperaware of the stars above their heads through the smoke, spinning, spinning, spinning as the fiddle and drum played in the dark.

In and out of the hazy dizziness of drinks, Skye was caught by the unchanging sadness on Gill's face alone. It was the last thing he remembered seeing before sleep overtook him.


End file.
